Presently known display support stands generally fall into four categories: (1) frames into which the items to be displayed are inserted; (2) easels onto which the items to be displayed are placed; (3) combined placards with integral stands; and (4) foldable rectangular permanent support stands.
Examples of the first category are U.S. Pat. No. 2,061,294 to Stephenson; U.S. Pat. No. 6,460,280 to Haines-Woon; U.S. Pat. No. 5,279,692 to Best; and U.S. Pat. No. 8,074,385 to Wagner. These types of stands are bulky, complicated, and expensive to produce, frequently costing more than the value of the item to be supported and displayed, and are generally manufactured to display only flat objects of a single specific size, such as photographs of a single size.
Examples of the second category include U.S. Pat. No. 4,199,126 to Komendowski, and U.S. Pat. No. 8,100,376 to Ye. This category of support stand is typically comprised of multiple parts, is bulky and expensive to produce, and is not easily foldable flat for shipping and storage.
An example of the third category is U.S. Pat. No. 5,056,250 to Weissleder. This type of stand is not easily used to display successive objects of different sizes and, due to the use of a curvature in the easel, is not adequately strong to support heavier objects, nor is it easily stored in a generally flat configuration for shipment or when not in use.
Examples of the fourth category include U.S. Pat. No. 5,092,555 to Best, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,211,791, also to Best. The '555 patent discloses a support stand formed from a rectangular piece of card stock, requires use of transparent laminate sheets affixed to the front and back of a photograph to be displayed, and does not teach use of the support stand for supporting items other than photographs. Due to use of rectangular support means and use of the laminates, Best '555 can be costly to manufacture.
Best '791 teaches alternate embodiments of a support stand. The first embodiment, like Best '555, requires the use of transparent laminate sheets affixed to the front and back sides of a photograph to be displayed. Essentially, both the Best '555 patent and the first embodiment taught in Best '791 teach constructing a do-it-yourself picture frame. The second Best '791 embodiment teaches collapsing part of the support stand, while still attached to the photograph, to make it flatten against the rear of the photograph for storage or mailing, and then bending it back into place. Such collapsing and bending tends to weaken an essential structural element of the support.
Both the Best '555 and '791 patents teach use of a permanent adhesive for attaching the stand to either the rear laminate sheet or directly to the back of the photograph being displayed. Therefore, attempts to remove any of the Best support stands can damage either the laminate backing or the item being displayed.